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David Geering considered 66 Tereks to be about
half of what he'd expect for a high count on the Hunter estuary.
Depending on your time
scale, present numbers may be exceptionally low. Thirty years ago I
recorded up to 600 Tereks and 180 Broad-bills there.
Some Sydney birders, in particular Arnold McGill, were
incredulous even about much smaller numbers of Tereks and Black-tails that I
reported in my short pants years round 1965. Several entreaties finally
brought regular visits by him and Keith Hindwood, Alan Rogers, Ernie Hoskin,
Fred Johnston and others.
What I knew as Ash Island was once a wonderful place. It
dismays me to see the present industrialisation and paucity of wetlands. Long
before my time, it was a collecting site for Gould with some forest habitat that
was reduced to scattered old figs when I first saw it.
Glenn
Glenn Holmes & Associates
Birding & botanical
specialists
PO Box 1246 Atherton
Qld 4883
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